NOTES
The Queensland Local Government Net acquisitions of non-financial assets for 2008-09 published in Government Finance Statistics (cat. no. 5512) was incorrect. The published figure should have been $-890m and the Surplus/deficit should have been $1,166m. This amount has impacted on the Operating Statements and Cash Flow Statements for General Government, Non-financial Public Sector and Total Public sector for Queensland Local, State and Local and Australia.

Changes have been made to the Main Features and 5 data cubes affected, being Tables:

000. All Levels of Government by Sector

333. General Government - Local - Queensland

533. General Government - State and Local - Queensland

544. Non-financial Public Sector - State and Local - South Australia

593. Total Public Sector - State and Local - Queensland

CHANGES TO THIS RELEASE

A revised international standard for compiling National Accounts, the System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA08), was endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission in February 2009. SNA08 was implemented in Australia's National Accounts in September quarter 2009. This has resulted in one change to the ABS' compilation of Government Finance Statistics (GFS). Defence Weapons Platforms (DWPs) have been capitalised to align with the SNA08 from September quarter 2009 and time series, including those presented in this publication, have been revised. This change affected the Commonwealth General Government Operating Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet.

DWPs are the structural systems from which destructive weapons such as missiles, bombs and torpedoes are launched or fired. They include submarines, warships, fighter planes and tanks. The previous standard, SNA93, classified expenditures on DWPs as Government Final Consumption Expenditure. This meant that purchases of military equipment such as fighter planes and submarines were not seen as providing any ongoing services beyond the period in which they were purchased. SNA08 includes DWPs as capital expenditure. This brings the treatment of expenditure on DWPs into line with capital formation in other industries. Expenditure on 'disposable' military equipment, such as bullets, will continue to be recorded as additions to inventories. The Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5514.0) will be updated to reflect this change.

The International Monetary Fund's Government Finance Statistics Manual 2001 (GFSM2001) will be revised in the future to reflect the SNA08. The timing is unknown at this stage. ABS GFS will be updated to reflect the new international standard after the revised IMF GFSM is available.

CHANGES TO THE RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER INFORMATION

From 2008-09 onwards, Australian Accounting Standard Board 1049 Whole of Government and General Government Sector Financial Reporting (AASB 1049) has replaced Australian Accounting Standard 31 Financial Reporting by Government (AAS 31) as the standard Governments should follow in the preparation of their financial statements. A key feature of AASB 1049 is that where the Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5514.0) differs from the accounting standards, a reconciliation to the key GFS aggregates and an explanation for these must be presented in a reconciliation statement. Data presented in this publication may differ from data published by Treasuries in their reconciliation statements for the key aggregates where Treasuries have not adjusted their data to a GFS basis, where ABS have a different view on classification treatments, where ABS employ a different consolidation methodology, or where data have been included that were not available when the jurisdiction's GFS presentations were published.

REVISIONS

Revsions have been made as a result of updated data being reported by jurisdictions.

An historical review of data for New South Wales has been undertaken and data have been updated across the time series to capture revised data for New South Wales financial statements.

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

This publication presents government finance statistics (GFS) on an accrual accounting basis for each jurisdiction for general government, public non-financial corporations, the non-financial public sector, public financial corporations and the total public sector as follows:

Operating statements;

Cash flow statements; and

Balance sheets.

Time series of these data are available on the ABS web site for the periods 1999-2000 to 2008-09.

Within GFS the consolidated total of the general government and the public non-financial corporations sectors is referred to as the 'non-financial public sector'. The consolidated total of the general government, the public non-financial corporations and the public financial corporations sectors is referred to as the 'total public sector'

In this publication, the term 'state' includes the two territories. Therefore 'state' refers to 'state and territory' and 'state and local' refers to 'state, territory and local'.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Glynis Orrell on Canberra (02) 6252 5735.

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